Chocolate......?

Question

What is Chocolate? Like plant? sugar n some other stuff?

Answer 1

Chocolate (pronounced /ˈtʃɔklɪt/ (help·info); see below for etymology) comprises a number of raw and processed foods that originate from the bean of the the tropical cacao tree. It is a common ingredient in many kinds of sweets, chocolate candy, ice creams, cookies, cakes, pies, and desserts. It is one of the most popular flavors in the world.

Chocolate was discovered by early Mesoamerican civilization and cultivated by ancient Mayans and Aztecs, who used it as a basic component in a variety of sauces and beverages. The cocoa beans were ground and mixed with water to produce a bitter beverage which was reserved only to the highest noblemen and clerics of the Mesoamerican world. The word "chocolate" comes from the Nahuatl words Xocol meaning "bitter" and Atl meaning "water". Chocolate is made from the fermented, roasted, and ground beans taken from the pod of the tropical cacao tree, Theobroma cacao, which was native to Central America and Mexico, but is now cultivated throughout the tropics. The beans have an intensely flavored bitter taste. The resulting products are known as "chocolate" or, in some parts of the world, cocoa. Theobroma is Greek for "food of the gods".[1]

It is the solid and fat combination, sweetened with sugar and other ingredients, that is made into chocolate bars and which is commonly referred to as chocolate by the public. It can also be made into beverages (called cocoa and hot chocolate). The first chocolate beverages were made by the Aztecs and the Mayas and later the Europeans. Chocolate is often produced as small molded forms in the shape of animals, people, or inanimate objects to celebrate festivals worldwide. For example, moulds of rabbits or eggs for Easter, coins for Hanukkah, Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus) for Christmas, and hearts for Valentine's Day.

The word chocolate is derived from the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs of Mexico. The word is derived from the Nahuatl word xocolatl (IPA /ɕɔ.kɔ.atɬ/; SHOCK-o-lattle)[2]. The word is derived from xocolli bitter, and atl, water. It is associated with the Mayan god of Fertility. Mexican philologist Ignacio Davila Garibi, proposed that "Spaniards had coined the word by taking the Maya word chocol and then replacing the Maya term for water, haa, with the Aztec one, atl."[verification needed] However, it is more likely that the Aztecs themselves coined the term, having long adopted into the Nahuatl the Mayan word for the "cacao" bean; the Spanish had little contact with the Mayans prior to Cortes early reports to the Spanish King of the beverage known as xocolatl.[3]

The chocolate residue found in an ancient Maya pot suggests that Mayans were drinking chocolate 2,600 years ago, which is the earliest record of cacao use. The Aztecs associated chocolate with Xochiquetzal, the goddess of fertility. In the New World, chocolate was consumed in a bitter and spicy drink called xocoatl, often seasoned with vanilla, chile pepper, and achiote, (which we know today as annatto). Xocoatl was believed to fight fatigue, a belief that is probably attributable to the theobromine content. Chocolate was an important luxury good throughout pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and cocoa beans were often used as currency. Other chocolate drinks combined it with such edibles as maize gruel (which acts as an emulsifier) and honey.

Roughly two-thirds of the entire world's cocoa is produced in Western Africa, with close to half of the total sourced from Côte d'Ivoire. Like many food industry producers, individual cocoa farmers are at the mercy of volatile world markets. The price can vary from between £500 ($945) and £3,000 ($5,672) per ton in the space of just a few years. While investors trading in cocoa can dump shares at will, individual cocoa farmers can not increase production or abandon trees at anywhere near that pace. It has been alleged that an estimated 90% of cocoa farms in Côte d'Ivoire have used some form of slave labor in order to remain viable.[4] When cocoa prices drop, farmers in West Africa sometimes cut costs by resorting to slave labor.[5]

Varieties
The three main varieties of cacao beans used in chocolates are Criollo, Forastero and Trinitario. Criollo, the variety native to Central America, the Caribbean islands and the northern tier of South American states, is the rarest and most expensive cocoa on the market. There is some dispute about the genetic purity of cocoas sold today as Criollo, since most populations have been exposed to the genetic influence of other varieties. Criollos are difficult to grow, as they are vulnerable to a host of environmental threats and deliver low yields of cocoa per tree. The flavor of Criollo is characterized as delicate but complex, low in classic chocolate flavor, but rich in "secondary" notes of long duration. Forastero, is a large group of wild and cultivated cacaos, probably native to the Amazon basin. The huge African cocoa crop is entirely of the Forastero variety. They are significantly hardier and of higher yield than Criollo. Forastero cocoas are typically big in classic "chocolate" flavor, but this is of short duration and is unsupported by secondary flavors. There are exceptional Forasteros, such as the "Nacional" or "Arriba" variety, which can possess great complexity. Trinitario, a natural hybrid of Criollo and Forastero, originated in Trinidad after an introduction of (Amelonado) Forastero to the local Criollo crop. These cocoas exhibit a wide range of flavor profiles according to the genetic heritage of each tree. Nearly all cacao produced over the past five decades is of the Forastero or lower-grade Trinitario varieties. The share of higher quality Criollos and Trinitarios (so-called flavor cacao) is just under 5% per annum.[6]

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Harvesting
First, the pods, containing cacao beans, are harvested. The beans, together with their surrounding pulp, are removed from the pod and left in piles or bins to ferment for 3-7 days. The beans must then be quickly dried to prevent mold growth; weather permitting, this is done by spreading the beans out in the sun.

The beans are then roasted, graded and ground. Cocoa butter is removed from the resulting chocolate liquor either by being pressed or by the Broma process. The residue is what is known as cocoa powder.

Approximately 80% of the world's chocolate comes from Africa. According to human rights organizations, most of the chocolate is grown and harvested by small family farmers, many of whom use child slaves for the work. These child slaves are said to be treated as family members, and the human rights groups do not encourage a boycott of chocolate.

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Blending
Chocolate liquor is blended with the butter in varying quantities to make different types of chocolate or covertures. The basic blends of ingredients, in order of highest quantity of cocoa liquor first, are as follows. (Note that since U.S. chocolates have a lower percentage requirement of cocoa liquor for dark chocolate, some dark chocolate may have sugar as the top ingredient.)

Plain dark chocolate: sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, and (sometimes) vanilla
Milk chocolate: sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, milk or milk powder, and vanilla
White chocolate: sugar, cocoa butter, milk or milk powder, and vanilla
Usually, an emulsifying agent such as soya lecithin is added, though a few manufacturers prefer to exclude this ingredient for purity reasons and to remain GMO-free (Soya is a heavily genetically modified crop), sometimes at the cost of a perfectly smooth texture. Some manufacturers are now using PGPR, an artificial emulsifier derived from castor oil that allows them to reduce the amount of cocoa butter while maintaining the same mouthfeel.

The texture is also heavily influenced by processing, specifically conching. The more expensive chocolates tend to be processed longer and thus have a smoother texture and "feel" on the tongue, regardless of whether emulsifying agents are added.

Different manufacturers develop their own "signature" blends based on the above formulas but varying proportions of the different constituents are used.

The finest plain dark chocolate covertures contain at least 70% cocoa (solids + butter), whereas milk chocolate usually contains up to 50%. High-quality white chocolate covertures contain only about 33% cocoa. Inferior and mass-produced chocolate contains much less cocoa (as low as 7% in many cases) and fats other than cocoa butter. Some chocolate makers opine that these "brand name" milk chocolate products can not be classed as covertures, or even as chocolate, because of the low or virtually non-existent cocoa content.


Chocolate, with enough cocoa butter, flows gently over a chocolate fountain to serve fondue.[edit]
Conching
See main article at Conching.
The penultimate process is called conching. A conche is a container filled with metal beads, which act as grinders. The refined and blended chocolate mass is kept liquid by frictional heat. The conching process produces cocoa and sugar particles smaller than the tongue can detect; hence the smooth feel in the mouth. The length of the conching process determines the final smoothness and quality of the chocolate. High-quality chocolate is conched for about 72 hours, lesser grades about four to six hours. After the process is complete, the chocolate mass is stored in tanks heated to approximately 45–50 °C (113–122 °F) until final processing.

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Tempering
The final process is called tempering. Uncontrolled crystallization of cocoa butter typically results in crystals of varying size, some or all large enough to be clearly seen with the naked eye. This causes the surface of the chocolate to appear mottled and matte, and causes the chocolate to crumble rather than snap when broken. The uniform sheen and crisp bite of properly processed chocolate are the result of consistently small cocoa butter crystals produced by the tempering process.

The fats in cocoa butter can crystallize in six different forms (polymorphous crystallization). The primary purpose of tempering is to assure that only the best form is present. The six different crystal forms have different properties.

See more info at the following site.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate

Answer 2

Chocolate is that extremly desirably brown stuff , that we just can't get enough of. Real chocoholics know when they are eating the real stuff as apposed to the fake substatues that a lot of company's are trying to sell us claiming that it's still the same. Real chocolate comes from the coca bean tree which does cost more now , so as to keep prices down company's are creating fake copy's but it tastes nothing like chocolate, it just looks the same. It is sort of a plant, it's a bean pod, usually mixed with sugar to make it sweet and various other ingrediants. Hope that helps.

Answer 3

Chocolate is made from a plant called cocoa which is grown in alot of places.
To make chocolate bars people combine cocoa butter, dried milk,
sugar.

Answer 4

Chocolate comes from the cocoa plant and originated in mexico.

Answer 5

good chocolate is made from 2/3 cocoa butter and 1/3 cocoa or something, and then they add sugar and flavour or liquor and stuff.

Answer 6

Chocolate, made from the fermented,roasted, and ground beans taken from the pod of the tropical cacao tree.

Answer 7

It is crushed cocoa beans cooked with milk and sugar.

Answer 8

Cocoa beans, milk, tones and tones of sugar and artificial colourings and flavourings.

Answer 9

surge Sunday chocolate thing on it i love it so try it u Will like it tooooo.

Answer 10

it's a sweet delight made up of cocoa

Answer 11

cocoa beans (plant)